


Professional Himbo

by Ange_Screams



Series: MDSkul Shenanigans: A JuBan Medical School Alternate Universe [4]
Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Medicine School, Banri's "It's you who gets me fired up" moment, Beta Read, Betaed, But Professional and Serious inside, Gen, He's a nerd for feeling attracted to how Juza handles instruments, He's just really skilled and passionate when it comes to labwork, Juza not only slides Wonder Boi, Juza's a Himbo out of the Laboratory, M/M, Microbiology Laboratory Work, Pre-Relationship, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Well who wouldn't?, but also Microbio wonder boi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ange_Screams/pseuds/Ange_Screams
Summary: It’s one of these days when Juza goes back to his roots. His undergraduate professor enlisted for his help in doing various demonstration videos regarding microbiology laboratory techniques.Alternate Summary: Fluff-made Reviewer
Relationships: Hyoudou Juuza & Settsu Banri, Hyoudou Juuza/Settsu Banri
Series: MDSkul Shenanigans: A JuBan Medical School Alternate Universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964539
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Professional Himbo

**Author's Note:**

> 10/30 AN: I will look back at this fic when the term exams are near. kjasdfh.
> 
> 10/29 AN: I started writing this at 10:00 AM Philippine standard time for my 2:00 PM quiz in Microbiology Lab. This is my way of studying as of the moment. So, I hope you guys would get a thing or two though I will put a line for the quiz material so you can skip it. (Also, let this be some sort of appreciation for the laboratory scientists who risk their own health to study bacteria for the sake of public health.)

As soon as their official classes have started, Juza is now constantly looking forward to the three-hour-long free time in the middle of the week. He usually spends this free time to review some material he might have forgotten throughout the week (as any normal student tends to do) or just straight up refill his sugar tank.

On this particular day though, he’s going to revisit one of his favorite places in his previous department—the laboratories. 

Sure, the medicine department also has these. However, they are still on the introductory side of things and they won’t be having much more practical stuff till the latter part of their time in med school. That means, Juza has been constantly barraged by lectures and is now desperate to do things on the practical side. Today, he will get the chance to scratch that “lab itch” of his.

He’s not going alone though. The silence-breaker in his life as of the moment—also known as his annoying roommate—decides to tag along. 

_ “So, where are we going off to?”  _ Banri walks beside Juza with hands in his pockets. When he knew of Juza’s little endeavor to the other department, he decided to tag along and goad on the other.

_ “To my old department. And really, it should just be me,”  _ Juza replies. 

_ Well, two is better than one, right? _ But the thought of Banri potentially messing up during the session irks him. He can’t really judge the person without knowing his skill level when it comes to things like these, so he’ll just keep that to himself.

_ “No way will I pass up this chance to show you I’m actually better than you. Besides, I’m sure you’re not exactly as ‘wonderful’ as your professor said you’ll be,”  _ says Banri, in an attempt to annoy Juza, but he is very confident in his skills in the lab that he just smirks and says,

_ “Let’s see about that, Settsu.”  _

Once they reached the building, Juza led the way to the room. He navigated the halls like the veteran he is. Also, a few of the students loitering around suddenly fell quiet and whispered to their companions. Comments of “Who is he?” or “That dude’s scary,” can be slightly heard. Juza didn't pay them any attention and walked down the hall. Banri, on the other hand, is very curious. They really didn’t see him around here, huh. 

Upon entering the lab room, Juza is greeted by a man in his forties sporting a goatee. 

_ “Hyodo! Great to see you, boy! How’s med school so far?”  _ Yuzo Kashima, the head professor of the Microbiology department under the College of Sciences, pats him on the shoulder. 

He is one of the feared professors in the Biology course. Legend says that he has the ability to wipe half of the batch with just one or two term exams. He believes that a student must master his subject to get a better student or future biologist out of them, so repeaters and irregulars aren’t really a new sight in his class.

_ “It’s only a few weeks since it started, but it’s nice,”  _ Juza answers briefly. He’s really excited to do some lab work, so he’d rather work than talk, which made Yuzo smile.

_ “Ahaha! Someone’s excited to do some work. But really, thank you for helping an old man out. Though it seems I ain’t the only one who asked for help. I’m Yuzo Kashima, Juza’s Microbiology professor,”  _ Yuzo noticed Banri’s gaze looking around the room, so he addresses him.

_ “Banri Settsu, sir. Classmate and roommate. I’m kinda bored so I just followed this scarecrow right here,”  _ Banri points his thumb at Juza, and Yuzo just laughed out loud.

_ “Hahaha! Good luck with helping him, though. He’s very meticulous in his methods. Anyway, I’ll be by that office right there with some of my students. Have fun, Hyodo!”  _

With that, Yuzu makes his exit—or entrance?—and waves at the boys from the huge glass window at his office.

Before diving into the actual work, Juza debriefs Banri on the task at hand. They were supposed to make demonstration videos on the different kinds of staining done in microbiology. So, one of them operates the camera and the other does the staining procedures. For safety reasons, Juza will do the staining while Banri will try to get the best angle of the procedures

First in their task is bacterial smear and heat fixing. Banri prepares to hit record when he suddenly gets goosebumps. The aura around his roommate drastically changed from “himbo” to “professional”. The usual scowl subtly changed into a very small and slight smile, like he’s talking only encouraging words to the instruments and specimen in front of him.

* * *

_ “In this video, you will learn how to make a bacterial smear and how to heat fix it in preparation for staining. A bacterial smear is a thin layer of bacteria placed on a slide for staining. Staining bacteria is one way to identify what kind of bacteria is present in the colony. To clearly see the individual bacteria, the sample must be mixed into water or physiological saline. This helps evenly spread out the bacterial sample.  _

_ If you’re preparing different kinds of bacterial colonies, it’s best to draw circles on the slide using a wax pencil. But if it’s only one, you don’t have to.”  _

* * *

Juza’s usual voice jumped off the window, and this new one decided to take over. It’s softer and more encouraging. It’s like when one listens to his instructions, it’ll surely stay in the head, and maybe even straight to the heart. Banri’s eyes couldn’t help but watch, and his ears could do nothing but listen. It’s such a different side to him. It’s also knocking something at the back of his head.

Banri watches intently as Juza places a drop of water onto the slide. Heck, even the way he handles the inoculating loop to get a small sample and how he gently mixes it into the water drop has such an extremely different vibe to his usual roughness. There’s really something knocking at the back of his head.

* * *

_ “...Before staining, the sample must be heat fixed. This process does three things. First, it kills the bacteria, Second, it makes the smear firmly attach to the microscope slide. Third, it allows the sample to readily take up the stain.  _

_ To heat fix a bacterial smear, let the sample air dry. Once it’s dry, depending on the available equipment, you can place the slide in the microincinerator or pass the slide through the flames of a Bunsen burner three or four times. The smear side should be facing up. Once these are all done, your sample is ready to be stained...” _

* * *

Once Juza puts down the slide, he sees Banri still staring at him all wide-eyed and flustered, which is not the expression he is used to seeing on his roommate’s face.

_ “Oi. Settsu. It’s time for the next topic,”  _ he tried to break whatever trance Banri was in. 

Banri blinks at that moment of vulnerability he exhibited but he coughs it off. 

_ “Gram-staining, yeah? Aight,”  _ he sets the camera to a new recording and nods off to Juza for him to begin again.

There it is again. The soft and gentle tone as if he’s talking about a precious item. Like before, something inside Banri stirs at the sound of it. The passionate voice that comes with the jargon makes it all seem like he’s talking about elementary-level science subjects, when in fact it’s actually college-level.

* * *

_ “...Gram stain or Gram staining. also called Gram’s Method, is a method of staining used to distinguish and classify bacterial species into Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria. Hans Christian Gram developed this technique. _

_ Gram-positive bacteria have a thick layer of peptidoglycan in the cell that makes them retain the crystal violet primary stain. Peptidoglycan is a polymer of amino acids—hence the peptido- part—and sugars—hence the -glycans part—that makes up the cell wall of all bacteria. This structure is fundamental to bacterial life that bacterial species can be distinguished based on its structure. _

_ Gram-negative bacteria, on the other hand, have a thinner peptidoglycan layer that allows the primary stain to wash out with ethanol, but they’re counterstained with safranin or fuchsine...” _

* * *

This part was supposed to not show Juza’s face, but the man was deep within his own world that Banri sneakily adjusts the lens to feature his expression. The tender touch he has on the instruments really contrasts the fire in his eyes. It’s saying,  _ ‘Watch me. This right here is what I love to do, and sure as hell you’ll enjoy it too,’  _ and Banri won’t say it out loud but he’s almost getting pulled into that passion. Almost.

* * *

_ “...There are four basic steps in Gram-staining. Four steps for four reagents. First, apply the crystal violet primary stain to your heat-fixed smear… like so. _

_ As mentioned in the first video in this series, heat-fixing is done so the stain adheres or sticks well to the bacteria. Let the stain sit for a minute then pour the excess. Second is the adding of the mordant or trapping agent, which is our iodine. This reagent binds to the crystal violet and traps it within the cell. Once again, let it sit for a minute then pour out any excess reagent into the proper chemical disposal bin. The third step is decolorization. Pour the ethanol or acetone for around 10-15 seconds over the sink. Take note of the amount of ethanol you will add, because you do not want to do it excessively and wash out the primary stain. This step is important so the Gram-negative bacteria can pick up the counterstain, which is the last step. The reagent or dye that we will use for this step is either… safranin, which is red, or fuschine, which is magenta.  _

_ To see if you have done correctly, put this slide under the microscope and view it. The Gram-positive bacteria should have a purple color, whereas the gram-negative color should have a pink color...” _

* * *

When Juza’s hands moved, Banri adjusted the lens once again. He just hopes Juza won’t ask to view this later. He’ll be too embarrassed to admit that he recorded his face. As he was doing the procedure, the delicateness and flair he possessed are captivating. The students will surely have their eyes glued to the screen when this goes out. Well, it is engaging to watch someone talk about a topic that they hold dear to their heart, and Juza is definitely doing it here. Before Juza catches him sporting his awestruck expression, Banri switches back to his smug look and tries to tease him.

_ “You’re staring at it so hard, Hyodo. You sure you ain’t gonna make love to it or something?”  _

_ “None of your business, Settsu. Just record,”  _ Juza replies promptly as he prepares for the next techniques. 

Yuzo spares the boys a glance and sees the look on Juza’s face. He thinks to himself how he wouldn’t find a student as passionate as him, but then, no one might be able to match how much that boy has dedicated to the craft. All he can do is wish for people to see beyond the rough exterior and get pulled in by his passion as he did. He then looks at Banri and sneaks in a smile,  _ ‘Ah, welcome to the club kid.’ _

The pair moves on to the next technique.

* * *

_ “...A normal bacterial cell is known as a vegetative form of a bacterial cell. It can multiply freely when provided with optimal environmental conditions. But some groups of bacteria, when exposed to unfavorable conditions such as lack of nutrients, an insufficient supply of oxygen or CO2, lack of water and moisture, they have the ability to form a protective covering to protect themselves as a way to adapt. This structure is known as an endospore.  _

_ This structure enables them to survive thus they are difficult to stain with basic dyes and hence a special stain is applied that uses a special dye, along with heat-steam. This staining technique is known as the Endospore stain, a.k.a. spore stain. It is used majorly to detect and identify the presence of a bacterial endospore and bacterial vegetative forms in the cell...” _

* * *

Somewhere within Juza’s monologue of jargon, Banri looks back to a time he was genuinely interested in something. His family had a senior cat before and Banri would play doctor with it when he was still a kid. He would memorize the anatomy of a cat then show them off to his parents. Though as the years went by, with every animal anatomy or exhibit of veterinary knowledge, his parents didn’t pay attention anymore. In the end, he lost interest. Actually, he’s a bit envious of how much support this guy had, but there’s something else igniting within him. Or was it reviving?

* * *

_ “First thing’s first. Have a bacterial smear prepared. Next, cover the smears with a piece of absorbent paper. Place the slide over a staining rack with a hot water bath on top. Flood the absorbent paper with malachite green and let it steam for three to five minutes. Remove the stained absorbent paper carefully and discard and allow it to cool for one to two minutes. Gently rinse the slide with tap water by tilting the slide to allow the water to flow over the smeared stain. This is to remove the extra dye present on the slide on both sides and to also remove extra dye staining any vegetative forms in the heat-fixed smear. Add the counterstain, safranin for one minute. Rinse the slide with water, on both sides to remove the safranin agent. Ensure the bottom of the slide is dry before placing it on the stage of the microscope. Now view your slide using the oil immersion lens, at one thousand times magnification. _

_ The vegetative forms will take up the pink or red stain from safranin while the endospores will stain green, from the malachite green dye. This is because, during smearing and heat fixing, the malachite green penetrates into the endospore with the help of the heat from the steam, and so, during the water-rinse, the dye is not easily washed away. As for the vegetative forms, the dye is easily washed away because of their fragile outer covering, hence they take up the last stain which is the counterstain, hence they appear pink-red…” _

* * *

Once the procedures are done, Juza goes back to his default scowl. He looks up to see Banri fiddling with the camera. 

_ “I wanna see the clips,”  _

This makes Banri’s ears turn red at its tips. He abruptly turns the device off and closes the screen panel. 

_ “No time. You spent your precious time talking. We gotta go or Sakyo’ll kill us,”  _ Banri points to the clock hanging at the wall, and he’s right. Half an hour left and they still haven’t had lunch.

_ “Since when are you afraid of him? You had the steel balls to sleep like a log right in front of him every day,”  _ Juza jabs back as he takes off his lab coat and washes his hands. 

_ “Sleeping during his class is different from being late in his class. Plus, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss it.”  _

Juza nods at this, unconvinced, and knocks at Yuzo’s door. The professor opens the door, promptly gets the camera from Banri, and thanks them both for the help they gave. He sends them off to their building but asks Banri to stay for a minute. Juza’s eyes meet Yuzo for a second but avert them anyway.

_ “I’ll be waiting outside.” _

Once Juza’s gone, Yuzo faces Banri and says,

_ “Well?”  _ the professor asks as if he already knew what was going on in Banri’s mind.

_ “How do I become like that?”  _ Banri didn’t make any effort to hide it from himself anymore. Watching Juza this whole time made him realize how his skills are actually useless when compared to the passion emanating from the other. He won’t be able to move forward with his passiveness towards everything. It was then and there when the fire he once had in his childhood flared up into this new flame to improve. 

Watching Juza made him go,  _ ‘I want to have that kind of passion as well,’  _ and he did. Just merely watching him do mundane microbiological work lit up the fire he once had. 

Yuzo smirks at this, and replies,  _ “Just put your all into beating him, and you might actually beat him in the passion department. Now off you go. That Furuichi kid might have your heads.”  _

Even before Banri questions Yuzo, he’s escorted out of the room. He might have a questioning look on his face, but he’s decided. 

_ ‘Watch out, Hyodo. I’ll definitely beat you this time. No more half-assing from Banri Settsu.’  _

**Author's Note:**

> 10/30 AN: I would like to thank bekabanzi for suggesting turning quiz material into fluff.
> 
> 10/29, 2:33 AN: THE QUIZ WAS ON 1PM AND I WAS ONLY ON GRAM-STAINING. AKDJLFHG. I passed though. YEY!!!


End file.
